Main Theme: In Jesus’ teachings He put the Scriptures above man made traditions.
Read in Class: Mark 7:1-23. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: What relevant truths are presented here? What did Jesus say causes contamination of a person?
Apply: Might we have some “traditions” that perhaps conflict with the principles of God’s law? If so, what might they be?
Share: Your friend says that according to this story we have just read, that it is okay to eat pork? What do you tell you your friend? How might Matthew 15:20 help clarify things for your friend? See also, Does Mark 7 Tell us it is Okay to eat Pork?
Read in Class: Mark 7:24-30. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: What important lessons are found in this story?
Apply: Why is prejudice against other races and nationalities contrary to the teaching of Jesus? How can we seek to be purged of this evil?
Share: Your friend says that Jesus appears to be a little prejudice Himself in this story? Your friend asks why He was acting the way He was. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Mark 7:31-37. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: Who was brought to Jesus, and what did Jesus do for him?
Apply: What do you do with the gifts you have been given regarding hearing and speaking (for they are gifts)? How are you using them?
Share: Your friend asks why Jesus told people not to tell about the wonderful things he did for them. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Mark 8:11-21. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What approach by the Pharisees deeply disappointed Jesus? What had the disciples forgotten, and what point did Jesus make from this?
Apply: How can we learn to keep our hearts and minds open to the reality of God and to His love? Dwell on all the evidence that we have been given for God and for His love. At times, though, why does it seem so easy to doubt?
Share: What portion of this week’s Bible study do you think may be important to share with someone this week? How might you share this teaching with someone this week?
Read in Class:Mark 5:21-43. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What characteristics particularly stand out about Jairus? What interrupts the progress toward Jairus’s house?
Apply: The disciples asked Jesus how He knew someone touched him, while so many people were incidentally running into Him in the crowd. What is the difference between brushing up against Jesus and reaching out to touch Him? How can we apply incidentally running into Jesus or actually touching Him in our prayer and devotional life?
Share: Your friend asks why Jesus said the girl was not dead but sleeping, when it says He raised her from the dead? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Mark 6:1-6. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: Why did Jesus’ hometown people reject Him?
Apply: Have you ever experienced rejection by your own friends, family or even church? Did this expereince draw you closer to Jesus? How did it help you mature in your faith?
Share: Your friend asks why Jesus’ own family and townfolks rejected Him? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:Mark 6:34-52. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What was the problem Jesus and His disciples confronted, and how was it solved?
Apply: What should this story tell us about why a correct understanding of prophecy is important? If a false understanding of Christ’s first coming led to disaster for some, how much more so could a false understanding do the same for some in regard to His second?
Share: Can you share a time when you thought you may not have enough and God still worked a miracle to provide for you?
Something always bothered me about the story about Jesus calming the storm, and why Jesus asked His disciples where their faith was? I thought they were showing faith when they asked Him to calm the storm. Then one day it finally dawned on me. Let’s look.
As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So, they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Mark 4:35-40 NLT
First it is important to notice that it was Jesus’ idea to cross the lake. Many times, we are following Jesus’ leading, but when things start to go wrong and we run into problems we start doubting our calling. I remember when I was living in Texas and got the call to be a Bible Worker in Florida. Everything seemed to be working out perfectly so I felt it was God’s will to go. While I was in the middle of what I considered to be a smooth transition, my aunt said something that surprised me. She said, “You are going to run into problems in Florida. But God will still be with you.” Her words proved true. Without going into detail not everything went as smooth at first as I thought it would. But God was with me and got me through those storms, until finally I was sailing on peaceful seas. When Jesus calls us, He is aware of the storms ahead. Sometimes He calls us into the storm. The question we need to ask ourselves, is not “Will everything work out smoothly?” The only question we need to ask ourselves is, “Did Jesus call me?”
This leads me to why Jesus asked the disciples about their faith after He calmed the storm. I always thought He was questioning if He could calm the storm but that clearly was not the case. They knew He could calm the storm. That is why they were calling on Him. I believe what Jesus was really asking was, “Don’t you have any faith? Why did you need me to calm this storm? Why couldn’t you just ride this storm out with me?”
If Joseph had never been sold and betrayed by his family, his dream of being a ruler never would have come true. If Naomi’s husband and sons had never died, she never would have gone back to her homeland with Ruth, where Ruth became an important role in the lineage of the Savior. If the early church had never been persecuted it never would have had to flee to spread the Gospel in foreign lands. It is often the storms of life that get us to where we need to be. Sailboats move by the wind, and if there is no wind there is no progress. Instead of asking Jesus to calm every storm our way, we need to have the faith to ride out the storm with Jesus and have enough faith to let Jesus take us wherever the storm needs to take us.
A while back a friend shared with me an experience where his family abandoned him as a very small child by the side of the road. It was heartbreaking. As an adult my friend asked Jesus where He was when his family abandoned him at such an early age. He told me God opened his eyes, and immediately he relived the scene where He was abandoned, except this time He saw Jesus walking beside him on the side of the road, smiling at him with love. Not too long after that I went through a stressful situation, nothing like being abandoned by family or friends, but to me a storm, nonetheless. As I prayed about my “storm” one morning, I remembered my friend’s testimony. This may sound silly, but I just spent a few moments imagining myself in the boat with Jesus in the middle of the storm. I imagined Jesus and me just sitting together in the bottom of the boat smiling at each other, while the boat was tossed about on the waves and the disciples were all freaking out. I imagined Jesus smiling and winking at me assuring me everything was going to be okay, and there was no reason to freak out with the disciples. This gave me peace in the middle of the storm and of course everything worked out fine in the end.
Recently I was on an airplane that hit some turbulence. I and many of the other passengers have experienced turbulence on a plane before so it did not alarm any of us. We just kept listening to our music and reading our books. I reminded myself I should stay just as calm when life hits turbulence. I should remain calm, and just ride out the storm with Jesus. Having enough faith to believe Jesus can calm the storm is one thing. Having enough faith to not ask Jesus to calm the storm, and just ride it out with Him is even greater.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
Main Theme: Jesus used parables to help His listeners relate to the Gospel.
Read in Class: Mark 4:1-9. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: What are the different soils like, and what happens to the seed that falls on them?
Apply: What are some other spiritual lessons that we can learn from nature?
Share: Your friend asks, you if you have ever seen any fruit from the spiritual seeds you have planted. What testimonies can you share with your friend?
Read in Class: Mark 4:10-20. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: Why did Jesus teach in parables, and how did Jesus interpret the parable of the sower?
Apply: Consider your own life. Are any characteristics of the path, the rocky ground, or weedy ground creeping into your experience? This could happen more subtly than you realize. What choice can you make to change, if need be?
Share: Your friend asks why Jesus did not want those on the outside to understand the parables? What do you tell your friend? Hint: 1 Corinthians 2:14.
Read in Class: Mark 4:21-25. What are the main ideas of these passages?
Study: What is Jesus’ special emphasis in the parable of the lamp? What lesson is Jesus conveying with the parable of the measuring basket?
Apply: How can we better understand the principle that with what measure you use, it will be measured to you? Think about it in all your dealings with others.
Share: Your friend asks why the one has little has even that taken away from them? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Mark 4:26-32. What are the main ideas of these passages?
Study: What is the primary focus of each parable? What is the important stress of the parable of the mustard seed?
Apply: “ ‘And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come’ ” (Matthew 24:14). Consider what the “church” was like when Jesus made that prediction. Why is this such a remarkable and faith-affirming prediction?
Share: Your friend asks you how you are currently sowing the Gospel seeds. What do you tell your friend?
Main Theme: This week we will look at how Jesus handled some controversial situations and what we can learn from Him.
Read in Class: Mark 2:1-12. Discuss the main ideas in this passage.
Study: What was the paralytic looking for when he was brought to Jesus, and what did he receive?
Apply: In the story in Mark 2:1-12, Jesus is preaching the Gospel. A group of frirends are bringing another friend to Jesus to hear the Gospel. Another group of people are critisizing Jesus and questioning Jesus’ words and methods. Which group to you most closely identify with and why? Which group was doing waht they were supposed to be doing?
Share: Your friend asks how Micah 6:6-8 explains what was happening between Jesus and the leaders. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Mark 2:13-22. Ask the class to summarize this passage.
Study: Who was Levi, the son of Alphaeus, and why would there be an objection to him becoming a disciple of Jesus?
Apply: Who are those who today might be looked upon as the tax collectors were in Jesus’ day? How do we adjust our thinking regarding them?
Share: Your friend asks you if we should be fasting to today, and if so why and how? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:Mark 2:23-28. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: How does Jesus counter the charge brought by the Pharisees?
Apply: In the NLT Mark 2:24 says the pharisees accused the disciples of “harvesting grain on the Sabbath.” Really? All they were doing was plucking a few heads of grain to eat right then. Would you really consider that “harvesting?” Were the pharisees going a little overboard on this accusation? What are some things we sometimes go overbaord on or may be a little too picky about?
Share: Your friend asks you what Mark 3:1-6 teaches about Sabbath keeping. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:Mark 3:20-35. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: What connection do you see between the two stories intertwined in this passage?
Apply: Based on Scripture how would you explain what the unpardonable sin is?
Share: Your friend says she is afraid she has commited the unpardonable sin. What do you tell your friend?
Main Theme: Mark 1 gives us practical lessons for sharing the Gospel in day to day life.
Read in Class: Mark 1:16-28. Ask the class to summarize this passage.
Study: Who were the men Jesus called as disciples, and what was their response? What unforgettable experience happened in the Capernaum synagogue, and what spiritual truths can we take from this account?
Apply: What have you been called to give up in order to follow Jesus? (Think about the implications of your answer, especially if you can’t think of anything.)
Share: Your friend asks,”Why did Jesus tell the demons to be quiet when they were telling the truth? Is there a time for us to keep quiet even about things that are true?” What do you tell your friend? See, Why did Jesus Tell the Demons not to tell Everyone who He was?
Read in Class:Mark 1:29-34. Ask the class to identify the main idea of this passage.
Study: How did Jesus help Peter’s family, and what spiritual lessons can we draw from this account?
Apply: When and how has Jesus healed you, and how did it make you serve Him better?
Share: Your friend asks, “Just how sick should someone be before we ask Jesus to heal them? How sick should someone be before they call for the elders to anoint them?” What do you tell your frirend? See James 5:14-18.
Read in Class:Mark 1:35-39. Ask the class to summarize this passage.
Study: What important lessons can be taken from what Jesus did here?
Apply: Read Luke 6:12. Have you ever prayed all night? How big a part does prayer play in your daily living? Is it really even pracitical to think we can pray like Jesus did?
Share: Your friend asks, “Have you ever personally experienced a miracle that you credit directly to prayer? Can you tell us about it?” What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Mark 1:40-45. Ask the class to summarize this passage.
Study: What does this teach us about Jesus and how He related to the marginalized in society?
Apply: How can we be careful not to do things that could hamper the spread of the gospel, no matter how good our intentions?
Share: Can you think of someone who may be feeling like an “outsider”? How can you reach out to that person this week and make them feel included?
Main Theme: The first step this week will be to learn about Mark as reported in Scripture, to see his early failure and eventual recovery. Then the study will turn to the opening section of Mark with a look forward to where the story is headed and a look backward at why a failed and then restored missionary would write such a text.
Read in Class:Acts 13:1-5, 13. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: How did John Mark get attached to Saul and Barnabas, and what was the outcome?
Apply: Recall a time when you backed off from something—or even flat out failed at it—in your Christian walk. What did you learn from the experience?
Share: Your friend is the Pathfinder leader in your local church. She is getting discouraged, because a few of her assistant leaders keep quitting whenever there are challenges. Now she feels like quitting. What do you tell your friend?
Study: Why did Paul reject John Mark, and why did Barnabas give him a second chance? What details about Mark’s recovery do these verses suggest?
Apply: Consider a time when you or a friend failed and were given a second chance. How did that experience change you and those who helped you? How did it modify your ministry to others?
Share: Your friend, who is the pathfinder leader. is telling you about a Pathfinder girl and boy who were caught in the woods alone acting inappropriately with each other. The kids are being disciplined, but she is wondering if they should both be kicked out of the club? She asks you where you draw the line between a second chance and getting kicked out? What do you tell your Pathfinder leader friend?
Read in Class:Mark 1:9-13. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: Who is present at the baptism of Jesus, and what happens?
Apply: What does it tell you about the amazing love of God that, though Jesus was God, He would take upon Himself our humanity in order to save us?
Share: Yiour friend asks you why the Sprit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted? What do you tell your friend? See also Matthew 4:1-11.
Read in Class: Mark 1:14-15. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What are the three parts of the gospel message that Jesus proclaimed?
Mark summarizes here the simple and direct message of Jesus. Its three parts are illustrated in the following table:
Category
Content
Time Prophecy
The time is fulfilled.
Covenant Promise
The kingdom of God is near.
Call to Discipleship
Repent and believe the gospel.
Apply: Read Daniel 9:24-27 and Acts 10:38. When was the last time you studied the 70-week prophecy? How can knowing this prophecy help increase your faith not only in Jesus but in the trustworthiness of the prophetic Word?
Share: If someone asked you, “How do you know Jesus was actually the Messiah?” What Scriptures from the Old and New Testament could you share with them to show Jesus was the Messiah? See The Messiah in Scripture.
Main Theme: n this quarter’s final lesson, we will see Christ’s steadfast love during the most exciting time in the history of the universe and His complete triumph in the great controversy. The Bible’s last book, Revelation, gives us hope for today, tomorrow, and forever.
Study: What happens to Satan in these passages? What happens to the righteous? What happens to the wicked?
Apply: What do you think we will be judging during the thousand years and why? How will this judgment vindicate God’s character? See 1 Corinthians 6:1-2.
Share: You friend says that during the thousand years the wicked will be given a second chance. What do you tell your friend?
Study: Read 2 Peter 1:16-21. What assurance does the apostle give us regarding prophecy? What illustration does he use to show the importance of God’s prophetic Word?
Apply: “We have not followed “cunningly devised fables.” The prophecies of God’s Word light up the road ahead. They help us distinguish truth from error. Without the Bible, we would be left to the whims of human opinion and easily be deceived. “The people of God are directed to the Scriptures as their safeguard against the influence of false teachers and the delusive power of spirits of darkness. Satan employs every possible device to prevent men from obtaining a knowledge of the Bible; for its plain utterances reveal his deceptions. . . . The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. . . . None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the searching test: Shall I obey God rather than men? The decisive hour is even now at hand. Are our feet planted on the rock of God’s immutable word? Are we prepared to stand firm in defense of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus?”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 593, 594.
Consider the questions in the quote above. What will enable us to stand in the final crisis? What distracts us from studying God’s Word? How might we be compromising truth for personal pleasure?
Share: Your friend says that she hopes to be laid to rest before earth’s final events, so she does not have to endure them? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What elements of a seal are contained in the Sabbath commandment? Where are the seal of God and the mark of the beast received? Why do you think there is a difference?
Apply: Why is day-by-day faithfulness to the Lord the key to being prepared when the final crisis arrives?
Share: Your friend says. “The world is becoming more and more secular and wicked every day. What do you see going om in the world today that makes you think any kind of a Sunday law or any kind of religous law could ever be passed in such a wicked society?” What do you tell your friend?
Study: How do these verses say God’s work on earth will be finished?
Apply: What is holding back the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the latter rain, and the loud cry? However small our role as individuals might be, what role can we fill in being open and receptive to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?
Share: Can you think of someone who you can share the Gospel with this week?
Study: How does worshiping the Creator find its final expression?
Apply: Read Daniel 6:4-5. On what basis was Daniel accused and persecuted? Have you ever seen anyone being persecuted for being loyal to God’s law? Have you ever been persecuted for remaining loyal to God’s law?
Share: Your friend quits keeping the Sabbath to avoid conflict with his wife and her family. He says God understands he has to keep peace in the family. What do you tell your friend? See Matthew 10:34-39 and Revelation 2:10.
Read in Class: Revelation13:1-10. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: Where does the beast rise from and who gives itauthority?
Apply: How do we live in expectation of the second coming without becoming alarmists every time something happens?
Share: Your friend asks what this beast does to commit blasphemy? Why was Jesus accused of blasphemy? Is the beast committing blasphemy by claiming to be God? What do you tell your friend?
Study: How does this beast differ from the first beast in Revelation13?
Apply: What change do you see in this beast, and how does it speak? Think about the political instability in America today. How might that one day lead to the fulfillment of this prophecy?
Share: Your friend says there is no way a country based on religious freedom could ever turn around and persecute its own people for religious reasons. What do you tell your friend? What instances in both Biblical and secular history might you base your answer on?
According to Time, Read in Class: Daniel 3:4-24 or portions of this passage.
Apply: What specific things happen in Daniel 3 that encourage you to be faithful to God when Revelation 13 plays out.
Share: Can you think of someone who may be suffering persecution in one way or another who could use some encouragement? How can you encourage them this week?
In Light of The Cross 